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Harry Styles opens up about grieving Liam Payne's death for the first time

4 March 2026, 20:33

Harry Styles opens up about Liam Payne's death for the first time. Picture: YouTube, Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

By Katie Louise Smith

"It’s difficult to lose any friend, but it’s so difficult to lose a friend who is so like you in so many ways."

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Harry Styles has opened up about the tragic passing of his friend and former bandmate Liam Payne in a new interview.

Chatting to Zane Lowe ahead of the release of his new album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally., Harry opened up about losing Liam and what it was like mourning him in public as the world watched on.

Liam sadly passed away in October 2024 and since then, the One Direction boys have each shared their own tributes, in their own time and on their own terms. (Louis Tomlinson recently released 'Dark To Light' as a tribute to Liam.)

Speaking candidly for the first time in detail about the devastating loss of Liam, Harry shared that his passing prompted him to re-evaluate his own life and seek out ways to honour his late friend.

Read more: Louis Tomlinson makes heart-wrenching admission about grieving Liam Payne's death
Read more: Harry Styles praised for banning cameras and recording devices at Manchester concert

Harry Styles spoke to Zane Lowe about grieving Liam Payne's death. Picture: YouTube

Sitting down with Zane and Apple Music, Harry opened up about how difficult it's been to mourn and talk about Liam publicly.

"Full transparency, I struggle with that a little bit even," he said. "I think there was a period when he passed away where I really struggled with kind of acknowledging how strange it is to have people kind of own part of your grief in a way."

He continued: "I have such strong feelings around my friend passing away. And then suddenly being, you know, like aware of there's maybe like a desire from other people of you to convey that in some way, or it means you’re not feeling what you're feeling or something, you know?"

Harry Styles says it was "strange" to have people "own part of [his] grief" after Liam Payne&squot;s passing — Harry Styles says it was "strange" to have people "own part of [his] grief" after Liam Payne's passing. Picture: Getty

Opening up about how Liam's death affected him personally, Harry continued: "It’s so difficult to lose a friend. It’s difficult to lose any friend, but it’s so difficult to lose a friend who is so like you in so many ways. It’s like, I saw someone with the kindest heart who just wanted to be great."

He added: "It was a really important moment for me in terms of taking a look at my life and being able to say to myself, ‘OK, what do I want to do with my life? Like, how do I want to live my life?’”

“And I think the greatest way you can honour your friends who pass away is by living your life to the fullest."

Wrapping up, Harry shared one emotional final comment about Liam: "Like, super special person, and really sad."